Reviews by atsprings:

On-tap at Flying Saucer during their Beerknurd Christmas party, served in a standard pint glass a crisp dark brown with a thin diminishing head. Aroma is a decent blend of burnt caramel and dried fruits. The taste is dried fruit, caramel, molasses and slight alcohol. The beer is somewhat heavy with a bit of sticky alcohol. This one is a sipper for sure, I'm glad I got this one for free.

More User Reviews:

Although the hefty price tag made me have second thoughts about buying this beer,Iam glad I did.Poured into a tulip glass a deep rich chesnut brown with a tinge of auburn,a creamy-like 1/2 finger light tannish colored head atop.Tons of malt complexity in the nose,caramel toffee,molasses,light roasted nuts,and juicy fruit,amazingly enough not much hop presence from a Rogue brewed beer.Creamy and full in the feel,not much carbonation wich fits the beer well.Flavors are warming with deep malty fruitiness and caramel goodness,light spice almost phenolic in nature but not as annoying,some sweet alcohol chimes in late,there is some light leafy hop that lend that leafiness and drying to the beer.This is a malt lickers dream here,Iam a hophead but really really enjoyed this beer,this is nice.

A georgeous looking bottle, complex flavours with great and not great flavour notes. The smell was awful, unwashed feet and hidden mould. A few months' cellaring was not responsible, rather brett and the like. Dark brown colour with significant retained white head. The taste was raisiny above all, malts and hops. Getting through the aroma there was good drinkability but it was wierd and boozy, as if this monster developed into a 10% plus overnight.Above average mouthfeel.

Pours out really dark brown with a honey yellow tint. Two fingers of off-white suds and slight lacing adorn the top of this good looking brew.Smell is very fruity with an oak sourness at the front then a honey oatmeal aroma then a floral hop to finish this brew's smell. No alcohol can be detected here.Taste is bready and spicey with caramel/honey in the forefront. Raisin and plum are a little further back. Slight alcohol detected here.Mouthfeel is sticky but very clean for such a big ale. The flavors do leave the palate quite quickly though. Overall this is a smoothe easy drinking big beer from Rogue. Too bad this thing cost me 23 buckeroos.

Review from 12/2010 notes. Poured into a Nostradamus flute glass. Pours a dark red amber. Moderate to thick muddy brown head with lacing. Malt and cola aroma. Flavor is malt and light fruit up front, followed by a medicinal spicy flavor that deteriorates into an estery, bitter mess. I can't even figure out what this tastes like, but there is a strong phenolic, estery flavor that is almost interesting, but is combined with a acidic bitterness. Interesting at times, but not well balanced. Don't think I'll revisit this one. Does not seem to be an old ale to me.

From a 750 ml black ceramic bottle, capped but with a reusable swing top attached. Pours out into a Westmalle chalice a deep amber, becoming a bright hazy ruby hue when held to direct light. Creamy light beige head that settles to a thin cap.

The presence of sharp yeast is most prominant in the aroma, earthy, tart and acidic, some wood, sour cherries, leafy and earthy hops.

Clean yet tart flavour up front, dry spicy notes, some wood with a spicy mild acidic tang on the finish along with intense herbal and leafy green hops. By the time it reaches room temperature hints of caramel malt poke through but remain a very meek background player in the whole mix.

I dunno, for the price tag of this bottle I am feeling quite jilted, and feeling supported in my theory that Rogue continues to just phone it in now with their newer products, and get their marketing department to do all the difficult work regarding it in the end. What this beer comes down to is a bigger beer that hasn't decided what it wishes to be, and although I don't think any commercial beers are required to fit between the book marks of etablished style guidelines, this one from Rogue seems a bit confused as to what it wishes to come across as, and lacks a real sense of cohesion or balance or a chosen direction it's trying to go in.

On tap at Kickbacks Gastropub in Jax. Poured into a Unibroue tulip. Think beige head above a ruby colored body. Oily resin lines the glass. Aroma is of sweet brown sugar and caramel malts. Taste is dominated by sweet malts with some pitted fruits, mainly dates. The alcohol is not noted AT ALL. Amazing. Very easy to drink. I would warn anyone interested in trying this brew to be prepared for the sweetness and of sweetness is not something you want in a beer, stay away. As it is, this is a unique and amazing interpretation of an old ale.

A: The pour is a dark amber color with some lively carbonation bubbles and a rather nice looking khaki head.

S: Sort of a bland nose for an old ale. Mostly bready malt notes with a little bit of toast and toffee. There is some brown sugar type sweetness, but it's lacking that richness and big caramel aroma that I typically associate with an old ale/English barleywine sort of beer.

T: The flavor is certainly better, but that wasn't much of a challenge. Decently sweet with notes of caramel, toffee, and brown sugar. Still quite a bit of bread quality to it, and almost no bitterness. A little bit of toast and (surprisingly) almost no booze.

M: Medium in body with a smooth carbonation.

O: Not bad by any means, but the extravagant price tag for a bottle really makes this a beer that I would not consider purchasing.